Milan, 16/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - If it uses its resources more efficiently, as it intends to do, Europe can stimulate environmental innovation and job creation, according to a new study published on Tuesday 15 July by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on the eve of the informal Environment Council in Milan (16-17 July) arguing the case for greening of the economy and the potential of the green economy for jobs (see EUROPE 11121).
The report Resource-efficient Green Economy and EU Policies was presented to ministers and asserts that, while many negative environmental trends are gradually improving, the EU needs a more fundamental, systemic re-orientation of its economy if is to meet some of its long-term environmental objectives. The report analyses the way in which the European economies can encourage more efficient use of resources to help the EU make the transition to a green economy and advocates carefully combined policies and instruments to this end: environmental innovation, the roll-out of new green technologies, reducing labour tax and more environmental taxes.
According to Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the EEA: “Innovation may be the single most important driver to change the inefficient way we currently use resources. Environmental innovation is key to address the challenges of the 21st century. If we want to 'live well within the ecological limits of the planet' as stated in the 7th Environmental Action Programme, we will need to rely heavily on Europe's inventiveness. This is not just about new inventions - encouraging the uptake and diffusion of new green technologies may be even more important”.
Reduced labour taxes and more environment taxes. Another lever for improving resource efficiency could be to reduce labour taxes such as income tax and instead tax inefficient resource use and environmental pollution. Such environmental taxes could encourage job creation but are under-used in the EU, equivalent to only 2.4 % of GDP in 2012. There may be multiple benefits - countries with the highest environmental taxes also seem to rank very highly for eco-innovations and competitiveness.
Strong environmental regulation. The report emphasises that strong environmental regulation can give the EU a competitive advantage because the other regions which want to export products to the EU are gradually adopting European norms, such as on vehicle emissions standards and chemical controls.
Industry to be become more environmentally friendly. The EU aim of increasing the contribution of manufacturing to 20 % of GDP by 2020, from 15.1 % in 2013 remains a double-edged sword. It could be an opportunity to boost environmentally beneficial innovation in areas such as renewable energy, according to the report authors. However, they warn that such growth must be consistent with EU environmental priorities, otherwise it could have negative consequences, including increasing greenhouse gas emissions and wasting valuable resources. (AN)